2013 THE LOOM OF THE LAND

24 January - 8 March 2013 .JOHANNESBURG

THE LOOM OF THE LAND

STEVENSON is pleased to present an exhibition of South African landscapes curated by Anton Kannemeyer.

http://archive.stevenson.info/exhibitions/land/index.html

'Landscape is so beautiful. It is probably the most terrific thing there is.'

- Gerhard Richter, The Daily Practice of Painting: Writings and Interviews 1962-1993

While celebrating what to Kannemeyer too is a 'most terrific' subject, this exhibition reflects his curiosity about images of the South African landscape that in some way disrupt expectations - whether of landscape as a genre or a particular artist's oeuvre. This is most evident in artists, like himself, who usually focus on other issues and subjects, and then also choose to depict landscape. There are many instances throughout art history of artists whose focus lay elsewhere but who have painted and sketched landscape scenes as formal exercises or incidental observations of daily life. Across time and eras, all artists who desire to depict the landscape are challenged by formal and aesthetic challenges because, as Kannemeyer would see it, it always starts to verge on abstraction at some point.

In South Africa, the landscape has unavoidable political connotations because the country's strife is entwined with the ownership of the land - a situation that continues to this day. These issues have dominated depictions of the landscape in recent years, with formal concerns understandably of secondary concern. While remaining aware of the polemics of land, Kannemeyer is selecting works for the exhibition that challenge perceptions of the landscape, rather than issues identified with the land or 'clever conceptual plays (like masturbating on a Pierneef painting, or exhibiting a landscape canvas with the front facing the wall)'. It is unexpected interpretations of one of the most traditional genres in the history of art that resonate most strongly with him.

Participating artists include Conrad Botes, Wim Botha, Paul Edmunds, David Goldblatt, Ian Grose, Pieter Hugo, Mark Kannemeyer (Lorcan White), Jacques de Loustal, Johann Louw, Mack Magagane, Titus Matiyane, Zanele Muholi, Brett Murray, John Murray, Daniel Naudé, Hylton Nel, Deborah Poynton, Jo Ractliffe, Claudette Schreuders, Ina van Zyl, Garth Walker, and Kannemeyer himself.